TheLivingDead
Dawn Of The Shred
Re: (slight) rant & a question: Neck shapes
Eh it's all over the internet.
Who knows who coined it.
Eh it's all over the internet.
Who knows who coined it.
(slight) rant & a question: Neck shapes
- Thread starter JeffB
- Start date
Seraphial
New member
Re: (slight) rant & a question: Neck shapes
I've got pretty small hands and short fingers, so wide and thin (Ibanez's, etc) or uber fat boatnecks are a no go for me, especially as I try to hook my thumb over the top.
Best necks for me are narrow necks (ie. 41mm at the nut) with a gradual taper down, not uber wide at the upper frets. The Wolfgang profile is fantastic as there's some meat behind the fretboard but its shaped for my palm. The other I loved was a 57 copy Tokai Goldstar Sound - hard V on a narrow neck. Awesome.
I've got pretty small hands and short fingers, so wide and thin (Ibanez's, etc) or uber fat boatnecks are a no go for me, especially as I try to hook my thumb over the top.
Best necks for me are narrow necks (ie. 41mm at the nut) with a gradual taper down, not uber wide at the upper frets. The Wolfgang profile is fantastic as there's some meat behind the fretboard but its shaped for my palm. The other I loved was a 57 copy Tokai Goldstar Sound - hard V on a narrow neck. Awesome.
Re: (slight) rant & a question: Neck shapes
I like the Wizard II's extra millimeter (don't laugh, it makes a difference in perception) and I don't mind the width, but the shoulders are a bit too squared for my taste. Out of the Ibanez necks, I prefer the Viper and the Satriani. Still haven't tried the J-Custom carve or the Petrucci though, but they seem to be the kind of neck I'd like in a shredstick.
I really liked the 1-inch to 1-inch planks that some vintage styled Tele's come with, but I can see how after a while they would kill my hand, specially when using the thumb to fret 6th string bass notes.
At the end of the day, I'm ok with something somewhere in the middle. My Strat's neck is round where it needs to be, flat where it needs to be, just wide enough and long enough (scalewise) for my fingers not to cramp up or need to stretch a lot ,medium thickness and it doesn't have much taper. I have thought out ideas for custom necks specifically tailored to the way I play, but to be honest, that's a whole lotta work for not a lot of benefit.
I like the Wizard II's extra millimeter (don't laugh, it makes a difference in perception) and I don't mind the width, but the shoulders are a bit too squared for my taste. Out of the Ibanez necks, I prefer the Viper and the Satriani. Still haven't tried the J-Custom carve or the Petrucci though, but they seem to be the kind of neck I'd like in a shredstick.
I really liked the 1-inch to 1-inch planks that some vintage styled Tele's come with, but I can see how after a while they would kill my hand, specially when using the thumb to fret 6th string bass notes.
At the end of the day, I'm ok with something somewhere in the middle. My Strat's neck is round where it needs to be, flat where it needs to be, just wide enough and long enough (scalewise) for my fingers not to cramp up or need to stretch a lot ,medium thickness and it doesn't have much taper. I have thought out ideas for custom necks specifically tailored to the way I play, but to be honest, that's a whole lotta work for not a lot of benefit.
Chickenwings
Alnico 6/8
Re: (slight) rant & a question: Neck shapes
this has nothing to do with neck shapes, but im gonna suggest it anyway.....
95% of players grip too hard and/or use inefficient technique that actually means they are expending a lot of force against themselves. Lots of players recruit their finger extensor muscles ate the same time they are recruiting their flexors. What that means is that they are fighting against themselves a lot of the time. There are other muscles that goverm both finger and thumb movement, but by practicing a few simple things you can develop a technique that uses less energy, released unneccesay tension and will allow you to play with more dextertity, speed and ease.
Firstly try practicing with not left hand thumb contact on the back of the neck at all. do all you scales like this. You can even develop an effective bar chord technique like this too. Obviously you will need some resisitance against the fretting hnad to depress the strings...so in this case you will need to apply a little pressure with your right hand forearm on the body. With timne you will develop the feel to use juts the absolute minimum pressure required to play. You will also end up using juts the very tip of your fingers too, which is excellent for your technique. MOst players choke the neck like a chicken. Try not to let any part of your left hand touch the neck apart from your absolute finger tips - be very wary of wrapping your first finger around the edge of the fretboard.
NOw i know this technique will not work very well if yo uare bending...but it is a very good approach to learn to use less wasted energy when fetting notes. NO technique will cover all of the various aspects of the guitars repertoire.
Ok second one: this is so simple yet so difficult....
place all four fingers on say frets 5,6,7 and 8. all along the same string. so its one finger per fret right? All fingers should touch the string, but the string should not be touching any frets.
Then depress the first finger. Keep the other 3 where they are...the string should touch the fret, but now be a millimitre or so under the other three fingers. then release the pressure on the string so the string once again touches all four fingers. Repeat the process with your other fingers. You will be surprised at how diddficult it is to stop your non fretting fingers for trying to "fly away". With practice you will learn to only apply pressure on the string and not backwards with your other fingers.
Third one....practice all your scales for a while in a staccato fashion. As guitarsits we have many means at our disposal to to this, but in this case do it like this:
fret each note (being careful not to have fly away fingers as in the last excercise) and pick the string, then release the pressure with the fretting finger so the finger stays oin the string but deadens the note. Do this for every note you play for a few days.
Try doing all this with no thumb! You will definitley find you hand will be able to move more smoothly, with less effort regardless of your preferred neck shape. It will also cause less stress on your tendon pulleys, and you will not suffer so badly from RSI.
Hope this helps!
this has nothing to do with neck shapes, but im gonna suggest it anyway.....
95% of players grip too hard and/or use inefficient technique that actually means they are expending a lot of force against themselves. Lots of players recruit their finger extensor muscles ate the same time they are recruiting their flexors. What that means is that they are fighting against themselves a lot of the time. There are other muscles that goverm both finger and thumb movement, but by practicing a few simple things you can develop a technique that uses less energy, released unneccesay tension and will allow you to play with more dextertity, speed and ease.
Firstly try practicing with not left hand thumb contact on the back of the neck at all. do all you scales like this. You can even develop an effective bar chord technique like this too. Obviously you will need some resisitance against the fretting hnad to depress the strings...so in this case you will need to apply a little pressure with your right hand forearm on the body. With timne you will develop the feel to use juts the absolute minimum pressure required to play. You will also end up using juts the very tip of your fingers too, which is excellent for your technique. MOst players choke the neck like a chicken. Try not to let any part of your left hand touch the neck apart from your absolute finger tips - be very wary of wrapping your first finger around the edge of the fretboard.
NOw i know this technique will not work very well if yo uare bending...but it is a very good approach to learn to use less wasted energy when fetting notes. NO technique will cover all of the various aspects of the guitars repertoire.
Ok second one: this is so simple yet so difficult....
place all four fingers on say frets 5,6,7 and 8. all along the same string. so its one finger per fret right? All fingers should touch the string, but the string should not be touching any frets.
Then depress the first finger. Keep the other 3 where they are...the string should touch the fret, but now be a millimitre or so under the other three fingers. then release the pressure on the string so the string once again touches all four fingers. Repeat the process with your other fingers. You will be surprised at how diddficult it is to stop your non fretting fingers for trying to "fly away". With practice you will learn to only apply pressure on the string and not backwards with your other fingers.
Third one....practice all your scales for a while in a staccato fashion. As guitarsits we have many means at our disposal to to this, but in this case do it like this:
fret each note (being careful not to have fly away fingers as in the last excercise) and pick the string, then release the pressure with the fretting finger so the finger stays oin the string but deadens the note. Do this for every note you play for a few days.
Try doing all this with no thumb! You will definitley find you hand will be able to move more smoothly, with less effort regardless of your preferred neck shape. It will also cause less stress on your tendon pulleys, and you will not suffer so badly from RSI.
Hope this helps!
Last edited:
JeffB
Let it B
Re: (slight) rant & a question: Neck shapes
Thanks for the advice Bro- I have actually had days where I've tried to play with my thumb off the neck...it is very clumsy for sure.
I'm quite sure my issue is because I play hard- I fret hard, and I pick hard and always have. I've tried several things to keep from doing either over the past couple of years- light strings and picks, etc. My CTS however started in my lifting days. It's just become far worse as I've gotten older, and with spending more time playing.
Thanks for the advice Bro- I have actually had days where I've tried to play with my thumb off the neck...it is very clumsy for sure.
I'm quite sure my issue is because I play hard- I fret hard, and I pick hard and always have. I've tried several things to keep from doing either over the past couple of years- light strings and picks, etc. My CTS however started in my lifting days. It's just become far worse as I've gotten older, and with spending more time playing.
Chickenwings
Alnico 6/8
Re: (slight) rant & a question: Neck shapes
yeah i dig your cts is from a different thing, but everything counts eh?
Thing about picking hard is not so much about how hard you actually hit the strings, but how hard you have to work to do it.
You can absolutely smash the guitar with good technique if you want to.
The biomachanics that go into playing the guitar are so complex...but heres another one to look at:
most players when the pick harder, grab the neck harder too...when you think about it, its not necessary at all. it certainly doesnt make your tone any better...if anything it throws off your intonation. try this simple one:
fret a note with your left hand and do some crecendos/diminuendos with your right hand....see if you can do it without gripping any harder on the left....
then try to maintain that feeling as you play scales and riffs the same way.
I just suggesting all this so you will be able to play longer and in more comfort. I guess apart from the regular benefits of playing more easily, you more than anyone will suffer less discomfort of you become deeply aware of whats goin on inside your hands, arms and body when you play. This is all about you playing in a way that will not aggravate your cts.
oh yeah one last easy one:
whne practicing try using a really heavy pick for a while (like 2mm or more). You will develop some good sensetivity in your right hand too and learn not to grip so hard.
yeah i dig your cts is from a different thing, but everything counts eh?
Thing about picking hard is not so much about how hard you actually hit the strings, but how hard you have to work to do it.
You can absolutely smash the guitar with good technique if you want to.
The biomachanics that go into playing the guitar are so complex...but heres another one to look at:
most players when the pick harder, grab the neck harder too...when you think about it, its not necessary at all. it certainly doesnt make your tone any better...if anything it throws off your intonation. try this simple one:
fret a note with your left hand and do some crecendos/diminuendos with your right hand....see if you can do it without gripping any harder on the left....
then try to maintain that feeling as you play scales and riffs the same way.
I just suggesting all this so you will be able to play longer and in more comfort. I guess apart from the regular benefits of playing more easily, you more than anyone will suffer less discomfort of you become deeply aware of whats goin on inside your hands, arms and body when you play. This is all about you playing in a way that will not aggravate your cts.
oh yeah one last easy one:
whne practicing try using a really heavy pick for a while (like 2mm or more). You will develop some good sensetivity in your right hand too and learn not to grip so hard.
Last edited:
Chickenwings
Alnico 6/8
Re: (slight) rant & a question: Neck shapes
Most of what we find hard about playing the guitar is stuff we create ourselves.
sorry...forgot to mention the reason behind the third excercise...its so you develop the feeling of "releasing" the pressure on each note which is very important in playing with less effort.
Most of what we find hard about playing the guitar is stuff we create ourselves.
Dgorocks
New member
Re: (slight) rant & a question: Neck shapes
Not always the case.:approve:
DrNewcenstein
He Did the Monster Mash
Re: (slight) rant & a question: Neck shapes
Jackson Mark Morton Dominion is what you want. The D2 (bolt-on) should set you up, though I'm not sure if that neck is as fat as the neckthrough model.
You might also look for an original-run Ibanez Talman.
I don't mind the wafer-thin necks. Jackson had one model with a crazy-thin neck - the JTX (Telecasterish). I hated the body shape but loved the neck, so I modded it to fit a standard Jackson body, and it's an excellent shredder neck. If only I could shred :lol:
Seriously, it's thinner than the KV profile. And it's got huge frets. Bass frets.
But the Morton is a fatty. Reminds me of my Les Paul, but with 1/4" more on the scale and 1/16" more on the width, plus the extra hair for the binding. The frets aren't too small, but I don't think they're jumbos.
Jackson Mark Morton Dominion is what you want. The D2 (bolt-on) should set you up, though I'm not sure if that neck is as fat as the neckthrough model.
You might also look for an original-run Ibanez Talman.
I don't mind the wafer-thin necks. Jackson had one model with a crazy-thin neck - the JTX (Telecasterish). I hated the body shape but loved the neck, so I modded it to fit a standard Jackson body, and it's an excellent shredder neck. If only I could shred :lol:
Seriously, it's thinner than the KV profile. And it's got huge frets. Bass frets.
But the Morton is a fatty. Reminds me of my Les Paul, but with 1/4" more on the scale and 1/16" more on the width, plus the extra hair for the binding. The frets aren't too small, but I don't think they're jumbos.
ErikH
Well-known member
Re: (slight) rant & a question: Neck shapes
You know me, I like fat necks. Franky has that big boatneck contour from Warmoth. The SG Classic has a meaty profile, somewhere in between the fat 50's and slim 60's. Really comfortable. The PRS is fat/wide and a dream to play. I really love the old Kramer necks from the 80's. They weren't Ibanez or Jackson thin but not overly fat either. More of a good Strat feel. Same with the old Charvels.
You know me, I like fat necks. Franky has that big boatneck contour from Warmoth. The SG Classic has a meaty profile, somewhere in between the fat 50's and slim 60's. Really comfortable. The PRS is fat/wide and a dream to play. I really love the old Kramer necks from the 80's. They weren't Ibanez or Jackson thin but not overly fat either. More of a good Strat feel. Same with the old Charvels.
